OshKosh B’Gosh was founded in 1895 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin as a manufacturer of hickory-striped denim overalls for railroad workers and farmers. The decision to start creating pint-sized versions for the children of these customers transformed OshKosh into America’s most beloved clothing brand.
For OshKosh’s, 25,000 sf, New York headquarters on Fifth Avenue, STUDIOS created a functional, creative workplace for adults that reinforces the robust OshKosh brand.
Glass-fronted, interior private offices house executives and provide space for staff visiting from other locations. The hand-painted room numbers on the glass fronts are reminiscent of signage from 19th century train stations. Fronting Fifth Avenue are the large boardroom and OshKosh’s multi-purpose space. The multi-purpose space was designed for maximum flexibility and can be used for fashion shows, all-hands meetings, photo shoots, design meetings, and happy hour events.
The T-shaped floorplate allows for a delineated, uninterrupted workspace. The egalitarian stretch of open workstations is punctuated by industrial light fixtures, restored original columns, and numbered signs indicating collaboration space and storage units. The look echoes the building’s mercantile history while the rows of contemporary desks with Knoll and Eames chairs keep the space grounded in the present. Edging the west side of the workspace are conference rooms sheathed in tack board for meetings and collaboration; additional meeting areas include extra storage with sliding doors that double as pin-up space.
Most important to STUDIOS was to create a headquarters for adults who work in the fashion industry, while authentically enhancing this American children’s apparel brand. Evidence of the brand’s 117-year history such as framed advertisements, photos of noted figures wearing OshKosh, and early OshKosh clothing items, are displayed throughout. Walls of reclaimed wood (all from a single barn in upstate New York) and pieces of Americana complete the “overall” look.
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